Passenger deaths: Rlys pulled up for refusing compensations

Passenger deaths: Rlys pulled up for refusing compensations

HC: Blaming Passengers Can Never Be Accepted

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:14.03.2021 

The Madras high court has once again pulled up Southern Railway for refusing to compensate death of passengers. The court has also expressed its dismay over the unhygienic conditions prevailing in coaches of express trains.

Asserting that policemen and railway staff deployed on such trains are not performing their duties, Justice S M Subramaniam has directed the railway zone to pay ₹8 lakh each to families of two passengers who died in train accidents.

“Toilets are not cleaned. Sometimes, adequate water facilities are not available. Coaches are not cleaned to the expected level. Cockroaches and rats are found in running train and even in express trains. There are chances that the passengers may get affected by infection on account of free movement of cockroaches, rats and insects etc,” the judge said.

Unreserved passengers are travelling in the reserved coaches on many occasions. There are many inconveniences even for the rightful passengers. All such irregularities and illegalities are not effectively controlled by the railway protection force and by the railway officials, he added.

“Under these circumstances, if the negligence or carelessness is attributed only against the passengers, neglecting the contributory negligence on the part of the railways, then the very purpose and object of the award of compensation is defeated,” Justice Subramaniam said. If the railway is able to establish that the deceased/ injured is not a bona fide passenger, then alone, it can be exempted from paying compensation, the court said.

This apart, the court pointed out how railway authorities and the railway police force are allowing passengers freely to cross railway tracks to reach other platforms, which is illegal.

“In case of untoward incident, blaming the passengers can never be accepted by the courts and all those officials including police officials must be held accountable,” the judge said.

Railway is bound to institute action against those officials, who have failed to perform their duties with utmost devotion. Further, negligence, lapses, dereliction of duty on the part of the officials are also to be looked into for the purpose of prosecution, the court said.

The court also expressed dismay over the unhygienic conditions in coaches of express trains and said passengers faced risk of getting infections